Hillary Helped Boeing, and Boeing Paid Off the Clinton Foundation

As a senator and secretary of state, Hillary aggressively advocated for the U.S. Air Force’s massive $35 billion tanker-refueling contract, a long, contentious process that pitted Boeing against Airbus. Then, among all recent secretaries of state, Hillary Clinton was the most aggressive booster for big American companies overseas, particularly for Boeing.

To be fair, there is not much wrong with that part. American government officials advocating for American companies is a good thing.

But remember, this is Hillary Clinton, so there is no such thing as leaving a good deed unpaid for.

And so Shazam! During the periods when Secretary Clinton was pushing governments to sign deals with Boeing, the aerospace company coincidentally “donated” more than one million dollars to the Clinton Foundation, and sponsored speeches that paid Bill six-figure sums.

Boeing also gave two million to the floundering U.S. effort to build a pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, reviving U.S. participation and giving Clinton a major foreign-policy achievement.

In August 2010, soon after securing a Russian airliner deal with Hillary’s help, Boeing donated another $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation.

Then in July 2012, just months after the State Department helped Boeing secure major deals in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, Boeing sponsored a speech by Bill Clinton for which he was paid $250,000. A State Department ethics official reviewed the proposed arrangement for conflicts of interest and, finding none, approved it.

And now by mere happenstance, Clinton will begin her Washington state campaign swing this week by meeting with Boeing machinists. The former president of the International Association of Machinists, Tom Buffenbarger, just happened to have left the job in January so he could campaign for Clinton and serve as a surrogate speaker.